Traffic doors are two-way swinging doors commonly used in industrial and commercial establishments. The doors are normally biased to the closed position and can be swung to the open position either manually or by engagement with material handling equipment, such as a fork lift truck.
A traffic door of the type shown in United States Pat. No. 3,295,589 includes an inverted L-shaped frame which is hinged to the doorway to swing in either direction, and the frame carries a lower impact resistant panel and an upper transparent panel. A spring loaded cam mechanism is associated with the upper horizontal frame section of the frame and acts to bias the door to the closed position. When the lower panel is engaged by the material handling equipment, the door is swung to the open position against the force of the spring loaded cam mechanism and after the equipment has passed through the doorway, the door is automatically returned to the closed position by the spring biasing force.
Traffic doors must necessarily be of strong rugged construction in order to withstand the impact of material handling equipment, and the surfaces of the door panels must be free of obstructions so that the material handling equipment will not catch or hang up on any portion of the door as it moves through the doorway.
As the doors are frequently used to separate areas of different temperature, it is also important that the doors provide a good weather seal. When used in certain types of commercial establishments, it is also desirable that the traffic door have an attractive appearance with a minimum of exposed fasteners or hardware.